Smile, It's Pretty
by lonelylittlefox
Summary: Beca Mitchell is a new junior at Barden High School. Soon she meets the infamous Chloe Beale. This is Beca's story of overcoming the fear of an abusive parent, the fear of being in love, and finding out who she really is. TW: Abusive/alcoholic parent. Bechloe high school AU (Sorry this description isn't very good. I promise my writing is better)
1. Chapter 1: The Move (Beca's POV)

**A/N:** **_Hey, guys. So, some of you may or may not have noticed that I deleted Candles and Water. I did so because I didn't like how it was going, and it was supposed to be based on my own personal situations. I really didn't feel like reliving those moments. I thought that it would be therapeutic, but it didn't really help. So, I've started a new high school AU. I like how this one is much better than the other. It does have some personal situations, but the entire story isn't based on them. I'm sorry if you liked Candles and Water, I just couldn't do it._**

 ** _Thank you to everyone who follows, favorites, and reviews this story. As always, I love you all! - Fox_**

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It started when Beca Mitchell moved from Salt Lake City, Utah to possibly the worst place she'd ever been in. This place was completely unappealing. It was going to take some getting used to as if being a junior and moving to a new school wasn't enough.

The new school was even worse than the brunette thought it was going to be. She'd been there for about a week and a half, taking some stupid tests that were required there. A lot of people tried to talk to her. She talked back to some of them, only trying to be polite. They all wanted to intercept the new girl in town. All of them pretending to be perfect little angels when really all that was underneath that fake skin were horrendous monsters. Beca wished her real friends could have come with her. They'd help her with this, but the reality was they weren't there and she'd never get to see them again. She wanted to run out of that school and never go back.

Some people were more polite, probably knowing she had no idea where to go by how lost she looked. That school, Barden High School, was the worst school Beca had ever been to. Anyway, these people only gave her slight glances, whispering to themselves. She met the eyes of one girl, though, and couldn't seem to tear her eyes away. Her hair was the brightest red Beca had ever seen and her eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue. The girl held Beca's gaze for what seemed like an eternity, slightly grinning in the process. Some guy that was heading Beca's way bumped into her, breaking her gaze.

"Watch where you're going," he glared. Beca just scowled at him, taking out her schedule. She glanced back up at the girl and the redhead chuckled. Beca sighed and started walking, heading towards her next class. She had already embarrassed herself...great. This was no better than Hell.

As she walked into her first-hour class, Beca asked the teacher, Mr. Daniels, where she was going to sit. He pointed to an empty desk in the front. Perfect. Now everyone was going to be able to look at her while she wouldn't know who or when they were. Beca shifted all of her weight onto one foot and stared at the desk.

"Is something wrong?" Mr. Daniels sat up. He had been leaning back in his chair, reading a copy of some giant foreign book. Beca silently prayed that this enormous book wasn't going to be what was assigned for reading.

"Oh, um, no. Sorry..." the small girl quickly walked over to the desk and set her backpack on it, sitting down. She waited for the bell to ring as other people of all shapes and sizes walked through the door, talking to each other. Occasionally, she'd get a few glances and a couple smiles, but she tried to ignore them. Beca would smile back, but that was the only response that she gave anyone. Finally, the bell rang.

"Alright, settle down class." Mr. Daniels closed his book and set it on his desk, "Many of you know that we have a new student today. We're all going to participate in this five-minute activity, understand?" The class stayed silent, "Great, we're going to start by saying our name and something about yourself. Let's start over here."

Mr. Daniels pointed at the boy sitting to Beca's right. He just stared at Mr. Daniels. She looked over at him, then at his notebook. She could tell he was an artist. There were all kinds of drawings on the cover. Who knows what was on the inside. Mr. Daniels sighed, knowing he wasn't going to cooperate.

Mr. Daniels looked at her next, "Um, my name's Beca Mitchell and I just moved here from Utah." she said quietly. He went around the room and everyone answered in the same monotone voice. Mr. Daniels was doing this just so she'd learn everyone's names, but there was no way she could remember all of them. Beca didn't even know the kid sitting next to her. Let's just call him Art Boy for now.

They went on talking about some book that they had been reading. Luckily, Beca had already read it. It was one of her favorite books. She read the thing front and back several times. It was poetry, something the brunette liked for a long time, thanks to her father. It was kind of embarrassing.

The rest of the day went by pretty much the same. Teachers trying to get Beca into the swing of things, people trying to intercept her, and diving head first right into whatever they'd been working on before she got there. Most of the time she was completely lost. Her second best subject was English. Her first? Well, she was heading right to it; Orchestra, her final class.

The director was more welcoming than the others. Her name was Mrs. Whitehill. She was a small, thin woman. His eyes were blue-gray and full of kindness. Beca stood there for a moment before she showed her where her new section would be; the violin section. She sat in the empty chair in the back of the section of chairs. Mrs. Whitehill told the class to simmer down as they started tuning after the bell rang.

Everyone went ahead and started playing after everyone had been tuned. They played a few songs, stopping when someone made a huge mistake. Mrs. Whitehill made a few corrections, teaching them what different symbols and words meant. Beca knew most of the ones she had gone over. She had been playing since the third grade, after all.

After Orchestra, the bell rang and Beca packed up her violin. Mrs. Whitehill told her that she could just put it in the designated cabinets. She watched all the others walk over with their instruments and walk off without them.

The brunette looked at the cabinets, then at her violin, "Um, would it be okay if I put it somewhere separate from the others?"

"I can assure you that it will be fine in there," the director smiled.

"Well," Beca sighed, "it's just that my dad bought this violin for me and he, um, he passed away not too long ago. This is the only thing I have that's connected to him."

Mrs. Whitehill gasped, "Oh, Beca, I'm so sorry. I can put it in my office if that's okay. Or you could take it home. You don't have to leave it here, you know?"

Beca handed Mrs. Whitehill her violin, "Thank you very much," she forced a smile.

"You're very welcome, dear" she walked towards her office, putting it away.

She took the opportunity to run out the door and sighed with relief when she was in the hallway. Now it was finally time to go home. Unfortunately, it was almost a mile walk from the school to her house. After going out the front doors, she crossed the street and walked forever, looking down at her feet. After a while, she looked up at the sky. It looked ominous. That's the kind of thing she liked. When the sky was cloudy and about to rain. The rain soothed her. She hoped it wouldn't rain until she got home.

It began to rain before Beca got home, though. Cars passed her, splashing water in all sorts of directions. Some guy actually swerved his car into a puddle so that she would get wet. The petite girl just flipped him off and kept walking.

When she got home, she walked through the door, sopping wet. She threw her backpack in the corner and stomped up the stairs. "I better not get a cold," Beca grumbled under her breath.

Beca's mother met her at the top of the stairs. She was about the same size as Beca, just a little bit taller. Her dark hair was an oily mess, "What the hell are you doing? Did you jump into a pond or something? You're getting water all over the floor!" she scolded her.

"Yeah, Mom. Because there are plenty of ponds in the city," Beca retorted, "No, I had to walk home and it started raining. I wouldn't be wet if you'd just pay the money to let me ride the bus," she sighed. Beca's mom didn't have her license anymore. She lost it when she was younger so she couldn't drive Beca to school.

"Beca, I don't have that kind of money. You know that."

"Yeah, but you have enough money to buy your stupid computer games and all your beer and cigarettes, right?"

"I do not spend all the money on that. You need to watch your mouth, little girl," she pointed her finger in Beca's face.

"Okay, can I go get changed now? I don't want to get sick."

Her mom moved out of the way, "You better hurry it up"

Beca sighed and wiggled her way past her mother. She changed into sweatpants and a tank top. After slinking out of her room, she tried sneaking past her mom. Beca didn't feel like talking to her. She was going to snap. That woman made her move away from the few friends that she had and now she was making her walk almost a mile to get to school and her mom didn't care if it was in the rain, snow, or sunshine.

"Beca, come here," her mom called.

The brunette sighed and walked over, "Yeah?"

"Can you bring me a beer and my cigarettes?" There were three empty cans on her computer desk and an ashtray full of cigarettes.

"Mom, you really need to quit smoking...and drinking. You'll end up like dad."

"I'm not going to die, Beca. Now do what I told you to do." She didn't even look up from her screen.

"Okay," Beca walked down the stairs and opened the fridge. There were several cans of beer. She picked one up and closed the fridge, turning around and grabbing her mom's cigarettes off the counter. She should've just thrown them in the sink, turned on the water, and poured the beer out, but she would've been killed if she did. The young junior learned her lesson the first time she tried getting her mother to quit. She still had the scar.

Beca brought her mother's things up to her, "Alright, go away," her mother said without even looking up from her computer screen.

"Whatever, Mom," she glared. Her mom didn't even hear her. Her headset was on and so was her mic. She was probably talking to Drew. Drew was her best friend. Beca thought they were more than that, but she never asked.

She went through about the same routine for about a week. This was going to be a long school year. Beca just couldn't wait to be out on her own.


	2. Chapter 2: All To Myself (Beca's POV)

**A/N: _Hey, guys. So this one is out super early because this used to be a novel I was writing when I realized it would be really good for Bechloe. So if you see things switched from third to first person or some weird names, that's probably why. Sorry if I missed them._**

 ** _Thanks to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed! Which brings us to the favorite review from the last chapter. It goes to...Electronis Zappa. I used to play violin, so I thought it would be cool if Beca and Chloe did too._**

 ** _As always, I love you all! - Fox_**

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It occurred to Beca one day that she'd never talked to the person she was sitting by in Orchestra, regardless of anyone in her section. She wouldn't have ever noticed if the girl wouldn't have started talking to her out of the blue.

"I like your violin," a soft voice said.

Beca didn't even look up, "Thanks," she replied in monotone.

"My name is Chloe. Chloe Beale, what's yours?" she asked.

She looked up and was a little surprised. It was the girl who looked at her and chuckled on Beca's first day of classes, "Beca Mitchell," she looked down.

"Beca, huh? I like it," she smiled.

"Thanks," she was trying to make it obvious that she didn't want to talk. That didn't stop Chloe from asking more.

"How much was it? Your violin, I mean."

"My mom's too cheap to buy me anything nice so I went to my dad and asked for him to buy me one. He finally did just before he died, so I don't know."

Beca didn't know why she told her that. The redhead looked at her with a sad expression and Beca could tell that she felt sorry for her. Thankfully, Mrs. Whitehill started class. They played the same songs. A concert was coming up in the next week. Beca could play them by memory now, but Chloe couldn't so they still had the music on the stand. When class ended, the small girl quickly packed her violin in its case and put it away, running out into the hallway.

"Hey, wait up!" Chloe called. Beca stopped and turned around. There was no way that she was going to get away from her, "I'm sorry about your dad."

"It's fine...I didn't really know him too well. My violin is the only thing that I have from him. Mom says he didn't even pay child support." Why was she telling her all of this? She didn't even know the girl, "Not that I really believe her, though."

"Man...that sucks. I'm really sorry"

Beca hated it when people just repeatedly said sorry. It got on her nerves. Every time she told someone about her dad, that's all anyone could say, "It's fine. I got used to it after a while." They were nearly at the front doors and the buses were about to leave.

"Do you ride a bus?" the ginger asked, pulling out her phone.

"No, I'm within a mile so I can't ride without my mom paying."

"Oh, I see. My mom can give you a ride." she pointed at a beat up maroon looking car.

"Oh, no, that's okay. It's not that far." Beca lied, beginning to walk in the direction of her house, "I'll see you later, though."

The bubbly redhead waved, walking towards her mother's car, "Alright, see you tomorrow!"

For the next few days, Chloe and Beca talked. They eventually began hanging out with each other within a couple weeks. She showed the brunette around town, what people and places to stay away from, and the people that were cool. Beca met her best friend, Aubrey.

Aubrey was a quiet, secluded girl. Well, at least towards Beca. She never really said much when Beca was around. She thought the blonde was a little bit jealous. After a while, Beca tried to stop hanging out with Chloe. She didn't want Aubrey to do get super upset. Beca was kind of scared of her. It had been about three weeks before Chloe said anything.

"Um, excuse me. Why are you avoiding me?" She asked in Orchestra. They had a test that moved Beca up a few seats so she no longer sat by the bubbly girl.

"What makes you think I've been avoiding you?" Beca asked innocently.

"You've barely talked to me in, like, a month. Is something wrong? You didn't hear about me being-"

"No, nothing's wrong. I've just had some stuff to do around the house and it's bugging me a little, that's all."

"Oh, okay," she looked relieved, "Well, if you need anything or wanna hang out or anything, just text me. Do you have my number?"

The brunette shook her head. Chloe would officially be the first person's number she got in this city, even though it'd been almost two months. She borrowed a pen from some girl in their section and scrawled her number across Beca's arm.

"Text me, 'kay?" Chloe winked.

The smaller girl smiled and sat down as class started, going through all the motions of playing the music. She could only think of one thing...being with Chloe.

It was weird, thinking about being with a person that she'd only met a couple months ago. Now, she wasn't thinking about dating Chloe, but just being around her all the time. Like, Beca wanted Chloe to be interested in her and only her. She wanted to be the redhead's best friend, not some other person. She knew it was selfish, but she didn't care at the time.

After class, Beca put her violin away and waited for Chloe.

"Oh, you actually waited this time?" She grinned.

"Yeah, of course I did. Wanna hang out today?" Beca asked.

"I promised Aubrey that I'd go shopping with her today."

"Oh, that's fine. I'll just chill at home, I guess."

"You can come with us, you know?" She began to walk. Beca followed close behind.

"Eh, I'm not really much of a shopper. Plus, I don't think your friend likes me too much."

"What, Aubrey? Oh, don't worry about her. Even if she didn't like you, I'd still hang out with you. I don't care what she thinks. I don't like her girlfriend and a couple of her other friends, but she still hangs out with them while I'm around. As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to you, she can deal with it."

The brunette smiled, "Oh, well I guess I can go."

"Okay, I'll pick you up at five?"

"Sounds like a plan," Beca grinned as they walked out the door. She began the journey to her house while Chloe walked to her mom's car.

Beca walked into the house and it reeked of the smell of cigarettes. She coughed and covered her mouth, "I'm home," she called out, but there was no answer. Beca walked up the stairs and saw her mother in her usual spot. She sighed and slipped into her room.

As she sat on her bed, Beca pulled out her phone and saved Chloe's number. Looking around her room, she realized that it was a complete mess. The brunette's clothes were on the floor, unfolded but clean. There were stacks of papers and books on her desk. Her closet had a bunch of junk in it. Most of it was just stuff that her mom wasn't going to really mess with in the new house. There was barely any room for anything that was hers in there. Sighing, Beca decided to start cleaning. She was probably going to invite Chloe over eventually and she was not about to have her room looking like a tornado went through it.

It didn't take her that long to finish cleaning. The young violinist only needed to fold her clothes, put them away, and put the books on her bookshelf. Beca went downstairs after about an hour and looked at the clock. It was 3:22. She still had about an hour and thirty minutes until Chloe was going to pick her up.

Beca realized that she should probably bring her money if she was going to go shopping. She ran upstairs after grabbing a drink and opened it. The brunette was going to have to find wherever she put her money first. Luckly, the old coffee tin she kept her money in was in plain sight in the closet. She walked out of her bedroom and started to go downstairs.

"What are you doing?" My mother asked, her words slurring a bit.

"I'm just gonna go to the library and wait for Chloe to pick me up. We're going shopping with her friend Aubrey later," Beca replied.

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever. Get me a beer, will ya?"

"Sure," the brunette sighed as she went down the stairs. She quickly grabbed her mother a beer, brought it up to her, and left the house.

Beca decided to walk around for a bit before actually going to the library. It was a while before she noticed that she was getting pretty far from home, but not too far from the library, and it was almost 5:00. She pulled out her phone, pulling up Chloe's number. The violinist called her.

"Hello?" the redhead answered.

"Hey, Chloe? It's Beca."

"Oh hey!" she could almost hear the smile in Chloe's voice.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could just pick me up at the library instead. I was walking around and managed to get all the way over here and I figured that I wouldn't make it back to my house in time."

"Oh, yeah, that's fine."

"Thanks, Chlo. See you soon," Beca smiled.

"Alright," she laughed, "yeah, we'll be there in like twenty minutes, okay?"

"Okay, bye," the brunette smiled.

"Bye," she hung up.

Beca soon got to the library and sat on a bench outside of it. So many things were going on around her. Cars going back and forth, kids dragging their parents towards some toy store on the square and begging to go in, people on their phones, some riding bikes, some holding hands. So many different kinds of people walked down the street and into stores. A cafe was across the street from her. A lot of people were going in there. One building caught Beca's eye, though. It was a music store; Simply Music. She got up and made her way across the street and walked in.

On the walls were rows and rows of guitars and basses. In one corner there were trumpets, trombones, flutes, and other band instruments. A small room in the back was full of books that she assumed were sheet music. Another room had drums. The last room was full of orchestral instruments. The brunette made her way to that last room. Beca would never buy any of them, even if she even could. The violin that her father bought her was better than all of the ones in that room.

She walked over to the guitars and stared at them. Beca really wished that she could play. Sadly, she couldn't. The violinist tried when she was younger, but her hands were too small. Her father knew how to play, but he never would teach her how to. Now any time she tried to pick one up, all she could think of was her dad and she just felt like she couldn't do it.

As she continued to walk around the store, someone walked up to her.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

Beca looked up, a little startled. She hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings and walked into an employee's only area, "Oh, I'm sorry." She said quickly, practically jumping out of the area.

"That's okay. A lot of people come back here anyways" he smiled, "Hey, you're that girl that moved here from Utah, right? We're in the same first hour."

It took her a second to realize it, but it was Art Boy, "Oh, yeah, hi." the brunette smiled.

"I'm Jesse," he reached out his hand to shake hers.

Beca shook his hand, "I'm-"

"Beca, I know. I sit next to you in Mr. Daniels' class."

She laughed, "Yeah, I remember"

Jesse laughed nervously, "Right, sorry. I probably seem like a creep now, don't I?"

"As long as you don't have some weird shrine of me and know virtually everything about me, I think you're good." Beca smiled.

"Dang, you caught me," he lifted up both his hands in surrender.

"Oh okay, tell me something about me then"

"You moved here from Utah. That's all I know. That's the only thing you've ever said in class about yourself, I think. You don't really talk much in school."

"Neither do you," the violinist retorted.

"That's true, I suppose."

"So, you work in a music store and you're an artist, right?"

"Whoa, and you say I'm the one that's creepy? That's two things that you've listed. I only listed one."

"I'm sure you could figure out more just by thinking about where I am,"

"Let me guess, you're a musician?" he asked, pretending to be surprised.

"No, I'm just in here to look at the pretty instruments," she said sarcastically.

"Oh, okay then" he grinned.

Something about Jesse made Beca smile. She didn't really know what it was. He was just goofy without trying and he had this aura that just made someone happy. Kind of like Chloe. The kind of happy that each of them made you was completely different, however. While Jesse made you laugh and smile by being witty, Chloe just made you smile. She just seemed happy and that happiness just rubbed off on other people.

Beca's phone began to ring. It was Chloe, "Sorry, I have to take this"

"No problem. I've got a customer anyways," he smiled.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, where are you?" Chloe asked.

The brunette looked at the clock. It was 5:13, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I'm in the music store across the street. I figured I'd check it out since I had twenty minutes."

"Oh, that's okay. We're out here in front of the library."

"Okay, I'll be out in a second." Beca hung up and looked at Jesse. He was dealing with another customer, but she managed to wave goodbye to him as she walked out the door. He waved back with a smile.

Beca jogged across the street to get to Chloe's car. Her mom was in the driver's seat and she was in the front passenger's seat. The violinist opened the door to the backseat and climbed in.

"I am so sorry. I was looking at all the music stuff and then I started talking to Jesse and-"

"Jesse? You mean Jesse Swanson?" Chloe whipped around.

"Is that his last name? I don't know if that's his last name or not. Why is something wrong?" Beca asked.

"Only that he's like a player and cheats on every girl he's ever been with and he's awful."

"He didn't seem that bad," she said, "He seemed pretty nice if you ask me."

"You wanna know what he is? He's trouble and nothing more," Chloe crossed her arms.

"Now that's enough, Chloe," her mom said, "I'm Debbie by the way, Chloe's mom."

"Hi, I'm Beca," the brunette smiled.

"Oh, I know who you are, honey. Chloe won't shut up about you," she laughed.

"Mom!" Chloe pushed her arm.

Beca smiled, secretly wishing her mother was like Chloe's.

"Can we just hurry up and get to the mall?" Chloe frowned.

"Would you like me to run red lights, dear?" Debbie asked.

"Please," Chloe crossed her arms.

Mrs. Beale put the car in neutral and revved the engine, nearly giving Beca a heart attack. Her eyes widened and she grabbed onto the side of the car.

Debbie laughed hysterically, "I wouldn't do that, honey." she said as the light turned green. She put the car back into drive and headed to the mall.

"Thank you, Mom" Chloe gave her a look as we got out of the car.

"I'll be back at 8:00," her mother said and drove off after we got our things out.

"I am so sorry for that," Chloe sighed.

"It's okay. Your mom is pretty cool." Beca smiled, "Though the stunt she pulled at the red light scared the crap out of me."

"I am really sorry" the redhead apologized again.

"It's okay. It really is," Beca smiled, "Let's go inside."

"Yeah let's go," she grinned.

We went inside the mall and waited for Aubrey and her girlfriend, Stacie, in the food court. It only took a few minutes for them to get there.

"So what store do you want to go to first?" Chloe asked Beca.

"It's up to you guys. I don't really do much shopping. I don't have a lot of money to spend," the violinist said.

"In that case, let's go to J.C. Penny first," Aubrey spoke up.

As they all went into the store, Chloe linked her arm through Beca's, "I'm sorry we're not doing something you like to do. We can next time, I promise. And it'll just be me and you."

Beca smiled, "It's okay, Chlo. As long as we get to hang out, I'm happy."

"You're too cute," Chloe grinned.

"Hey," Beca gave her a mock glare, "I'm not cute, I'm a badass."

Chloe broke out into a fit of laughter, "Whatever you say, Becs."

They had been falling behind Aubrey and Stacie, "Hey, come on you two!" the blonde called out.

"Better not keep her waiting," the young violinist sighed.

"We'll be able to ditch her eventually," the redhead told her.

"I don't want to make her mad," Beca said, "Besides, she's your friend."

"Well, she's got Stacie and she's done it to me several times so she'll have no room to be mad," Chloe smiled, "You're my friend too, you know?"

"Yeah, I know, but I just don't want to piss her off."

"Are you afraid of her or something?"

"What? No, I just know how much it sucks to be ditched for someone new."

"Well, I'm not ditching her for someone new. Like I said, she's got Stacie so she won't mind," Chloe reminded her.

Beca nodded, "Okay, but where are we gonna go?"

"We can go to that ice cream shop that you liked so much."

"Ice cream shop?"

"You know, the one that we went to a few weeks ago? It was like the first or second place that I took you to see. It's like the best ice cream shop in the city."

"Oh! Yes, let's go there!" Beca said excitedly.

The ginger giggled, "Okay, we'll go there. We just have to do a little bit of shopping with Bree for a little bit."

Beca nodded, "Okay."

Nearly two hours later, Beca was following Chloe around, carrying bags for her, as the redhead had bought so much that she could barely carry it all, "Jesus Christ, Chloe," Beca said as Chloe started to point at yet another store.

"Okay, okay," Chloe giggled, "I was just waiting to see how long it would take for you to complain. You went quite a while."

"Are you meaning to tell me if I complained an hour ago, we would have gone to the ice cream shop by now?" the brunette asked.

"Well, I probably would have told you just a couple more stores, but yeah."

"It would have taken just as much time anyways. You spend so much time in one store. I don't understand."

"What? You don't spend that long in a store? What do you buy?"

"I go to the store to get things that I need and I leave. I go in with a list of things I need, get them quickly, and get out."

"You're weird," Chloe grinned.

"No, you're weird," Beca rolled her eyes.

"I can call my mom. She can be here in a few minutes to take these bags and we can go."

"Thank God."

"Hey, Bree," Chloe called out, "We're gonna go. I'll see you later."

Aubrey just sighed, "Okay, Chloe," she then turned to Stacie. Thinking the other two couldn't hear her, she complained, "See what I mean, that hobbit is stealing my best friend!"

"Did she just call me a hobbit?" Beca asked.

"I think so...I'm sorry she's so rude. She's not usually like this," Chloe apologized.

The violinist looked at the ground, "It's fine. I'm used to stuff like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you mind if we don't really get into that? I don't really want to think about it."

"Yeah, that's okay. Let me just call my mom really fast and we can go."

After Chloe called her mom, they walked towards the entrance of the mall. Her mom showed up in a few minutes and took them to the ice cream shop.

When they got there, Beca ordered a glass of lemonade and a cone of mint chocolate chip ice cream and pulled out her wallet, "No! I've got it," Chloe exclaimed, ordering her ice cream and paying for it faster than the brunette could even protest.

"Well, thank you, but I could have gotten that myself."

"That's okay, I wanted to get it for you. As a thank you for being an awesome friend. You didn't have to carry all that stuff for me."

"It's not that big of a deal," Beca shrugged. 'Chloe is the nicest person that I have ever met. She tries to make everyone feel included and makes a point to try to make everyone smile as much as she can. She never wants anyone to be sad. I can see it in her eyes,' Beca thought.

Beca often wondered why the redhead tried so hard to make everyone happy. She had a couple theories, but none of them were ever proved. She thought that maybe Chloe had been hurt really bad and never wanted anyone to feel the same kind of pain that she felt. Maybe she just loved everyone or there was someone that she liked and she was trying to impress him. Beca wasn't really sure.

"So, um, is there someone you like?" Beca asked out of the blue.

Chloe nearly choked on her ice cream, "Uh...I don't know. Why?" Her face was turning bright red. Beca figured it was just because she almost choked.

"I don't know. I'm just trying to figure out why you try to make everyone so happy."

"I just like making people happy," she smiled, "Do you like anyone?"

"Well, I have a boyfriend back in Utah. He hasn't talked to me for a few days, though. I don't know if it's because he's mad or what. It's kind of upsetting, really."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know he wasn't talking to you. I didn't know he existed, actually," she chuckled, "In my opinion, you should just dump him. If anyone would avoid someone like you, they don't deserve you."

"Someone like me?" the brunette asked.

"Someone as nice and as pretty as you are," she gave Beca a smile that she stared at for too long. Something about Chloe saying that to her made her feel happier than anything. Beca gave her a huge grin and thanked her.

They spent more time mindlessly talking about things in their lives. Beca told her more about Sean, her boyfriend, and about life before moving here and the ginger told Beca more about her life at home. Beca had more fun than she did in a long time.

After about 40 minutes, the brunette's phone started buzzing. It was Sean.

"Well, speak of the devil," Chloe grinned, "Go on, take it."

Beca smiled and answered the phone, "Hey, Sean. I was beginning to think you died or something," she laughed.

"Hey, Beca..." the way he said it made her stomach churn. She knew something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" she asked, the smile wiped off her face. Chloe noticed, sitting up straighter and looking at her with a worried expression.

"I've been thinking..." Beca heard another voice. A girl's voice saying "just give me the phone." Sean eventually gave it up.

"Hello?" the girl said.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"This is Sophie. Listen, Sean is done with you. You left him and now he's needing something and I'm the one here for him. He doesn't wanna be with you anymore."

"Who the hell are you to say that to me?!"

"I told you, it's Sophie and-" Sean took back the phone, "Listen, Beca...I can't do this anymore. It's been months."

"What happened to your promise, Sean?"

"I'm sorry...I can't keep it..." he sighed and there was a click and dial tone.

Beca stared into space, her mouth open from the shock. She set the phone on the table and looked at Chloe.

"Are you o-" she started.

"Let's just get out of here..."

Chloe nodded and they headed out the door. Beca silently followed the redhead as she looked at her. It was the first time that the violinist saw actual sadness on her friend's face. Like she knew what Beca was feeling.

"What happened?" Chloe asked.

"Sean cheated on me," the brunette snapped, "With some girl named Sophie."

"What a dick," she sighed, "I'm here for you, you know that, right?"

I nodded, "Thank you, Chloe. Hanging out has helped me a lot today. I'm sorry you had to ditch Aubrey to hang out with me, though."

"I'd choose you over anyone any day. You're my best friend, you know that right?"

Beca gave her a smile, "You don't know how much that means to me."

"There's that smile," Chloe grinned.

With that, Beca got what she wanted. Chloe was all hers.


	3. Chapter 3: Are You Really? (Beca's POV)

**A/N:** **_Hey, everyone. I'm sorry I haven't been writing as much lately. I just finished my first week of college so I've been kind of overwhelmed lately. For those of you reading Exigent, I'm working hard on getting the next chapter done. I'm about halfway through with it. Hopefully, I'll have it up in the next week. Thank you all for sticking with me with my weird updating schedules._**

 ** _My favorite review of the last chapter goes to the only person who left a review, S.A.G-908. You usually leave reviews on all my stories, so thank you for keeping me motivated. You're the real MVP. Stay awesome._**

 ** _TW: ABUSE_**

 ** _As always, I love you all! - Fox_**

* * *

That night Beca was in her room, looking through the rest of the texts Chloe and she exchanged until she fell asleep. As she read through them, the violinist couldn't wipe the smile off her face. They'd talked about their lives before they met each other and how happy they were to have each other in their lives. The last text that was sent was from Beca.

 _ **So, you found out about Sean...is there anyone that you like? :)**_

There wasn't another text from Chloe. Beca didn't think anything of it. She eventually put her phone down on the table by her bed and sighed with joy. The brunette didn't think she could be this happy. Even with Sean, she didn't think she could be. He was always so controlling and then when she tried to say something about it, he would just get angry with Beca and act hurt. The entire relationship was like walking on eggshells. In all honesty, she was glad that she was out of it.

Beca had started to drift off to sleep and had a dream about Chloe, Jesse, and herself. Beca was walking to the music store. She and Chloe were looking at guitars and Jesse came over to see if they needed help. Chloe started talking to Jesse and they were laughing, having a good time. Beca continued to look at the guitars. She turned around and they were gone.

"Hello?" she called out, "Chloe, Jesse, where are you?" The room started to get dark and she sees Chloe kissing him, "What are you doing?" Beca cries out, "Chloe stop it!" she was getting upset. The brunette tried running towards them, but they were getting further and further away the more she ran. Beca stopped and screamed, "Chloe!"

That morning Beca woke up in a cold sweat. The dream she had the night before was unsettling. She wasn't sure who she was more upset by, Chloe or Jesse. _'I mean, I did call out Chloe's name, but she's a girl so it had to be Jesse I was upset about, right?'_ She didn't know. She was so unsure. She knew that the dream was impossible, though. Chloe didn't even like Jesse.

It was about 10 minutes before her alarm was going to go off so Beca got up. Her hair was a knotted mess and she had no idea what to wear. Her phone lit up with a notification from Facebook. It said that today was Chloe's birthday.

"No way," Beca whispered to herself. She had no idea today was her birthday and she hadn't been able to get Chloe a gift. The brunette was starting to freak out. She started to pace back and forth, "Oh God, how could she not tell me something like that. Jesus, I need something...I need something," she muttered to herself.

Eventually, she decided she was going to go with her to the mall or something because she wasn't sure what to get Chloe for her birthday. She would try to look nice for her today, at least. Wait a second, look nice? It wasn't like she was her boyfriend or anything. She wasn't even a guy. Beca chose to look nice anyways.

The violinist looked through her dresser and pulled out a dress to match her dark blue eyes. She put it on, "This is too much..." she sighed. Beca had gone through most of her nice clothes before deciding that dressing too nice would look dumb. She ended up putting on skinny jeans with combat boots, a white shirt that had some weird font on it and her green army style jacket. Beca let her hair down today. She usually had it up and out of her face.

Looking out her window, she realized it was raining. Beca really didn't feel like walking a mile in the rain. She pulled out her phone and called Chloe. It rang for a while before she finally answered.

"Hello?" she said in a slightly tired, grumpy voice.

"Hey, Chloe? It's Beca."

"Oh, Beca, hey!" the brunette could hear the change in attitude when Chloe heard it was her.

"Hey, I have a question"

"Yes, it's my birthday. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry about getting me any-"

"I'm not calling about that, silly. But it would have been nice to know. I could have planned something for you!"

"Oh, then what are you calling about?" she was curious, "And no, I don't want you to get me anything."

"I was gonna ask if I could get a ride."

"To where?" she sounded confused.

"Um...school?"

Chloe started laughing, "Oh my God."

"What? What's so funny?" Beca could feel the heat crawling up her neck.

"You do realize it's Saturday, right?" Chloe choked out between fits of laughter.

"Are you serious? Oh my God, I feel like such an idiot."

Chloe continued to laugh, "You're not an idiot, Becs. I've done it before too."

"Guess I should probably let you sleep," Beca sighed. This was completely embarrassing.

"Okay. Do you think you can come over today? I'm having a small party, nothing too big. I'd just really love for you to be there."

"Of course!" Beca said a little too excitedly, "What time do you want me to come over?"

"Have you dressed and whatnot yet?"

"Yeah, but you're probably tired. You should probably sleep more."

"You're more important than sleep. Besides, I want you to be the first one here."

"You're sweet," the violinist smiled, "Okay do you know where I live?"

"No, I don't think I've been to your house yet."

"It's um 403 South Walnut," she said.

"What? Wait a minute. Did you say south?"'

"Yeah, what's the big deal?"

"Beca, that's like a mile from the school."

"Actually, it's a tenth less than a mile."

"Beca have you been walking in the rain and cold all this time? You know we could have picked you up, right?

"Yeah, I just didn't want to be a bother. I didn't want you to go out of your way to come get me."

There was a beating on my door, "Beca! Shut the hell up! I'm trying to sleep! What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Mom, I'm just on the phone with Chloe," Beca sighed. She knew she shouldn't have said anything. She knew she was going to regret it.

Her mother opened the door, "What the fuck did you just say to me? Are you gonna disrespect me like that?" She knocked everything off Beca's desk to the floor. A glass container shattered, "Are you? Huh?"

"I wasn't disrespecting you, Mom," Beca needed to stop talking. She was going to get myself hurt.

It was too late for that, though. The dark haired woman stormed over in a flash and cracked Beca hard in the jaw. She covered her mouth and tried her best not to scream out in pain.

"That should teach you to back talk me, girl," she stomped out of the room and slammed Beca's door.

"Beca, oh my God are you okay," Chloe screamed. She knew the ginger was trying to stay quiet the whole time so she didn't get caught.

"Yeah," I whimpered, "I have to go...I'll just meet you at the library."

"Beca, what did she do to you?" Chloe yelled. The brunette hung up the phone. She slowly opened the door. Her mom was in her own room. She left a note on the computer desk telling her mom where she was going and ran out of the house.

Beca could feel a bruise forming where her mother hit her. She should have stopped when she could have. This was the reason she got hurt all the time. She didn't know when to shut her mouth.

The library was a few blocks from her house so she arrived there in a short amount of time. Beca was drenched by the time she got there, though. She sat on a bench and waited even though it was raining. It had been a good 20 minutes before she realized that she still needed to get Chloe a gift. The violinist walked over to the music store and went inside.

She wasn't really sure what Chloe was into, but she knew that the redhead loved violin just like Beca did. The brunette walked over to the room full of sheet music. There were all sorts of different composers and whatnot. She decided to go with sheet music that was full of alternative music. Beca knew that Chloe liked that.

"Looking at sheet music, are we?" a voice said as she went to grab the music.

Beca jumped, "Uh, yeah," she said, turning around. It was Jessie, "Oh, hey!"

"Hey there, Utah," he flashed a smile.

"Oh, don't you call me that too," the violinist laughed.

"I just heard some people calling you that. Figured it was your nickname."

"Uh, no. A lot of people call me that, though," Beca smiled at him.

"Okay, okay, I won't. So alternative, huh? Didn't know you were into that kind of music." He pointed at the book of sheet music that was now in her hands.

"Oh, um, no. It's for my friend. Her birthday is today."

"I see. Well, what kind of music do you like?"

"Mostly classical, obviously."

"Wow, a violinist that likes classical music. Haven't heard that one before," Jesse chuckled.

"I know, right?" Beca laughed. She saw Chloe's mom's maroon car pull up to the library, "Oh, crap. I have to go. Where should I pay for this?"

"Over here," he said, walking over to a counter.

Beca searched for her wallet. Eventually, she realized she'd left it home, "Shit...I don't have my wallet." the brunette sighed, setting the book on the counter, "Sorry to waste your time."

"You weren't wasting my time. You know what? Here. Take it," he winked, "It's on me. Tell your friend happy birthday for me."

"No way," Beca grinned, "I'll pay you back next time I'm here. Thank you so much!"

"Don't worry about it," he flashed another smile at her, "Like I said, it's on me."

"Thank you so much, Jesse. I owe you one. How can I repay you?"

"How 'bout this? I do this for you, and you have to hang out with me."

Beca looked at him for a second and smiled, "Okay," she nodded.

"Great. I'll see you later."

"Bye!" she waved as she walked out the door.

Beca jogged across the street, making sure to hide her face from Chloe. She knew that she probably had a bruise on her face from her mother, and went to get in the backseat of the car. She was glad Jesse didn't say anything about it while she was in the music store, "Hey, no you can ride up front," Chloe grinned. She hadn't looked who was in the driver's seat. Chloe was driving.

"Oh my gosh, you got your license!" Beca exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's what took me so long, sorry."

"That is perfectly okay," the brunette grinned. She looked down at her lap and the music book was there, unwrapped, "So, um, I got this for you. Sorry, I didn't have time to wrap it."

"Oh, you shouldn't have got me anything. I didn't want you to worry about it."

"Well, I did. Oh, Jesse says happy birthday, by the way."

The look on Chloe's face darkened, "Why would he say that? He doesn't even know it's my birthday unless you told him."

"No, I didn't tell him who. I just said it was my friend's birthday."

"Why do you even talk to him?"

"Because he's nice to me."

"Well, he's faking. He's nothing but trouble. He just wants to get in your pants, dear."

Beca smiled at the fact that the ginger called her dear, "We sound like an arguing married couple," she laughed.

Chloe smiled, "We do, don't we?"

Beca gave her a grin, "Where are we headed to?"

"Wherever you want," Chloe looked at her.

"Excuse me, but it's your birthday, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"No buts, you pick!"

"Well, okay then. You haven't been to my house yet have you?"

"No, I don't think I have."

"Then that's where we're gonna go."

The young violinist smiled at her friend, "Alright, then let's go."

The average size house that Beca lived in was worn down and break-ins happened all the time in the neighborhood. She was pretty sure that her neighbors were robbed just the day before. Someone broke into the shed that was in their backyard and stole a few items. She wasn't sure what exactly was taken, but they sure did put a lock on it pretty fast.

Chloe's house was in a much nicer neighborhood than Beca's. The large white house had a flower bed in the front covered with all sorts of different flowers. Beca stared at them and then looked at Chloe when she pulled into the driveway, "You live here?" she had forgotten about hiding the bruise.

"What happened to you?" the redhead frowned, "It wasn't your mother, was it? Is that what all that noise was on the phone? Is this what she did to you?"

"No, I fell. It doesn't really matter, Chloe. Just forget about it," Beca looked at the ground, covering it up again. She'd accidentally touched it a bit too hard and winced.

"I know for a fact you didn't fall. Let me see it," the tone of her voice was saddened, almost heartbroken.

Chloe moved Beca's hand away and looked at it. The brunette's eyes started to water. She didn't want to cry in front of Chloe, but one betraying tear rolled down her cheek. She reached over and wiped it away, "Oh, Beca. I'll get you out of there, trust me. I'll get you out and you won't have to live like this any longer."

"Please don't do anything. If she figures out that someone knows...I don't even want to think about what she will do."

"Beca, I don't want her hurting you. I don't want anyone hurting you. I care about you too much to just turn the other cheek and let this slide."

"If you tell her, the cops are going to take me away, shove me in foster care, and I'll never see you again!" Beca cried, "I have to be with you, Chloe. You're my best friend!"

Chloe's jaw clenched, "But I love you too much to just stand by and watch her beat you to death."

Beca ignored the fact that Chloe said she loved her. She didn't really think about it until later, "Please just promise you won't say a word. Please? I don't want to be taken to a stranger's home. Who knows what could happen to me there?"

"But what are you going to do?" Chloe's eyes were full of tears that she was willing not to pour out.

"I don't know," Beca looked at her, "I will try to stay out of the house as much as possible. I'll stay with you for as long as possible."

"That's a good idea. Maybe you can stay here tonight and we can figure more things out tonight."

The violinist nodded, wiping the tears away from her face, "Thank you for caring about me so much, Chloe," she sniffled.

"Don't thank me for that," she flashed Beca a smile. Beca just looked at Chloe for a moment, "Come on, Beca. Smile, it's pretty." The brunette couldn't help but return one at that comment.

"No, it's not," Beca laughed.

Chloe just grinned and opened the car door. They walked into her house and Beca was mesmerized. It was so beautiful. There were all sorts of pictures and different pieces of artwork that must have cost a fortune. One caught her eye, "This is absolutely beautiful."

"This?" Chloe pointed to a piece of a woman playing the violin. You could tell by the emotion on her face that she was definitely feeling the music.

"Yeah, this one. The artist captured the emotion on her face perfectly. She's feeling the way the music she's playing sounds. It's one of the greatest feelings in the world. Feeling so with the music that you lose yourself in it."

Chloe gave her a look and smiled, "I've never seen someone analyze art like that. I just look at it and thought it was pretty. I knew you'd like it, though. My parents just bought it the other day."

"Did they?" Beca couldn't take her eyes off of the amazing piece.

"I asked them to buy it," the redhead continued to stare at her.

"Why?" she looked at Chloe for a moment then back at the painting.

"It reminded me of you."

It was now that Beca realized that the woman in the picture looked almost exactly like she did, "It does look a bit like me, doesn't it?"

"Well, yeah it looks like you, but you look like that when you play. You feel the music just like she's feeling. I can tell just how much you love it."

"Do I really do that?" Beca asked, embarrassed.

"Yes, you do and it's beautiful. You're beautiful," Chloe looked right into Beca's eyes, her cheeks a light shade of pink.

"Do you really think so?" the brunette smiled.

"Yes, I do."

"Thank you," Beca grinned, "So what are we going to do today?"

"Uh...well, Aubrey and Stacie are supposed to come later, but you know all that went down yesterday so I doubt they're coming. So I guess it's just you and me. We can watch movies or something. Whatever you want to do, I'm up for."

"Chloe, how many times do I have to tell you, it's your birthday, you choose what you want to do and we both will."

"Darn," Chloe chuckled, "I was hoping you would forget."

"Why would I forget something like that," the violinist grinned.

"Let's play," Chloe pointed at the painting.

"Oh, I don't have mine," Beca said.

"I have a couple here. You can borrow one of mine."

"You have more than one?" the smaller girl gawked at her.

"Yeah," she smiled, walking over to a case and handing her one.

Beca took it reluctantly. Playing a different violin was an odd feeling. It felt foreign to her. You could say she hated it, but Chloe seemed really excited and wanted Beca to play with her. So she did.

The brunette grinned at Chloe, "What would you like to play?"

"I want you to play me something I've never heard before."

"I thought we were going to play together," Beca said, taking the violin out. It felt weird.

"Well, I'm not as good as you," Chloe smiled, "Come on, for me, please!"

She pretended to think about it while the redhead gave her puppy dog eyes, "Okay, fine, I guess. Only 'cause you asked nicely, though."

Beca tightened the bow and brought the violin up to playing position. It didn't feel right, but she was going to make Chloe happy. It was the least she could do for her. As Beca began to play, she closed her eyes. She was playing a piece that she had written a few weeks ago. The young violinist let her fingers find all the right notes and she was swaying with each stroke of the bow. She was feeling the music, every single ring of every single note was flowing through her. Beca's blood was pulsing with the music. This was where she wanted to be every single second of her life. This was a place that she actually felt like she belonged.

Before she knew it, her piece was over and she opened her eyes. Chloe was staring at Beca, grinning as her mom rounded the corner.

"I had no idea you could play so well, Beca," Debbie said, "Who is that piece by? I'd like to download it and make this one learn it!" She poked Chloe in the side.

"Oh, well, I kind of wrote it," Beca said shyly.

"You wrote that?" Chloe asked, surprised.

"Yeah, it's the first one that I've ever shown anyone. No one's ever really heard anything I write."

"Please tell me you're going to major in music and become some super famous orchestral composer."

"I'm thinking about it," the brunette looked at the ground. Her cheeks felt hot.

"Girl, you better," Debbie ordered, "Chloe needs a girl that has her life organized. The last few have not been doing so hot."

"Mom!" Chloe yelled. Her eyes widened and all the color drained out of her face.

"What? It's just that your last girlfriend, what was her name, Cas-"

"Shut up! Beca doesn't know!"

Now the color drained out of Debbie's face, "Oh my God, I'm sorry I thought you told her," Chloe stormed out of the house, "Honey, please, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Beca stood there awkwardly for a moment. She wasn't really following the conversation very well. Was Chloe...? No, she couldn't be.

"I'm going to go follow her," Beca said quietly, walking out the door to look for Chloe. She was sitting on the front porch step, hugging her knees, "Chloe, what was your mom talking about?"

Chloe looked at Beca for a second. She knew the tears were stinging Chloe's eyes, "I'm gay, Beca. My mom thinks you should be my girlfriend."

Beca stared at her for a moment, "Oh...well, there's nothing wrong with that. You're still my best friend."

"But Beca, I like you..."


	4. Chapter 4: Early Decisions (Chloe's POV)

**A/N:** **_Hey, guys. So if you've already read my author's note for Exigent, then you know that my laptop with that story on it crashed so I lost the work I did on that and I have to rewrite that whole chapter (which I was almost finished with and it had over 6,000 words). I'm really sorry for those who read Exigent. I'm working on it as fast as I can._**

 ** _My favorite review of the last chapter goes to xcombixgirlx. I would also like to wrap them both in hugs haha._**

 ** _Thank you all for following, favoriting, and reviewing. As always, I love you all! - Fox_**

* * *

When Chloe was about 8 years old, she knew that she was different. She knew that she didn't like boys. Now, she knew that only being 8 years old, someone probably wouldn't like boys to begin with, but the thing is, she really liked a girl. She was Chloe's best friend since she could remember. Her name was Miranda.

Miranda and Chloe were inseparable. Anywhere that she went, the bubbly redhead loyally followed. All the other kids used to make fun of her, saying she was like Miranda's little puppy. They always started barking at Chloe in the hallways at school. Miranda laughed it off while she just smiled, hurting on the inside. The redhead didn't want them to see that it hurt her. One day Miranda got tired of it.

"Why do you follow me around everywhere?" she asked when they were playing at the park.

"I dunno...'cause you're my best friend," Chloe replied with a smile.

"Well, I don't follow you around. You're my best friend. So why?"

"I mean, I like you. You're my friend, and you're pretty," she gave Miranda the most honest answer that she could.

"I like you too, 'cause you're my best friend, but you need to lay off."

"No, I like you like my mommy likes my daddy."

Miranda looked at Chloe like she was the most disgusting thing on the planet, "You're weird."

"How am I weird?" she asked innocently.

"You're not supposed to like a girl like that when you're a girl, freak. Leave me alone!" Miranda got up and ran away. Chloe cried and went home.

Miranda had told her parents and Chloe's mom walked into her room after a few minutes when she had gone home and to her room crying her eyes out.

"Chloe, I need to talk to you honey," she said with a soothing tone.

The ginger wiped away the tears, "What is it?" she sniffled, trying to hide that she was crying.

"Honey, did you tell Miranda that you liked her?"

"Yeah, because I do, but she called me a freak and said that I wasn't supposed to like a girl like that."

"You're not a freak, baby girl. It's just different. It's okay to like a girl like that, but you can't act out on it. Not yet, at least. Maybe when you're a little bit older."

"Why did she call me a freak if it's okay?"

"People like her and her parents just don't know what it's like. They're scared of different. They just want everything to stay the same. It's okay to be different."

"Does she hate me, mommy?"

"I don't think she hates you, honey, but I'm sorry. You probably can't talk to her anymore. Her mommy and daddy told me to keep you away from her."

Chloe began to cry harder than she had before, "I wish I hadn't ever said anything," she said between sobs.

"It's okay, baby. You'll find a new friend. There are more girls out there that are better than her, trust me."

The redhead crawled over to her mother and cried as she sat in her lap. She wrapped her arms around Chloe and stroked her head, rocking back and forth, "Shhh, it's okay honey," she said periodically. Eventually, Chloe had fallen asleep like that.

When she went to school the next day, the redhead stayed away from Miranda. All the other kids still barked at her, but after a while, they stopped. They realized she stopped following Miranda around and saw no reason to bark anymore.

A few years had gone by before she found a new love, and when that ended, a new one. It went on for a while until her sophomore year in high school. When that ended, she stayed single for a while, deciding to wait for the right girl. Now she was into her junior year and was beginning to lose hope.

One day as Chloe was walking through the hallways to her first hour, a new pair of eyes locked on hers. Her steel blue eyes were beautiful. Chloe was so caught up in them that she couldn't move. She was absolutely breathtaking. Her hair fell in a way that complemented her face perfectly. The ginger couldn't help but grin. She knew that she wanted to talk to her, but she didn't want to start right away. The new girl was probably overwhelmed with everything and everyone around her.

Someone ran into the beautiful and broke their everlasting stare, she looked back up at Chloe. The redhead chuckled, glancing at her again and turned to Aubrey when the brunette looked away.

"So, did you hear about the new girl?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah," she didn't even look at her. She had her phone out, more than likely texting her girlfriend.

"I think I just saw her. She's really cute," Chloe smiled to herself.

"You know, she's probably not gay. She probably even has a boyfriend back from wherever she used to live. I wouldn't try it," the blonde said.

She sighed, "You don't know that. Maybe she's bi or something."

Aubrey laughed, "You say that about every girl."

Chloe shoved her playfully, "Shut up. A girl can hope." They laughed and started to head to class.

Aubrey walked towards her English class with Mr. Daniels. She looked through the doorway and chuckled, "Look who's in Mr. Daniels' class."

"Dude, you are so lucky," the ginger whined, "Try to talk to her for me, will ya?"

"Kay, no. I'm not gonna talk to another girl for you. Grow a pair and do it yourself."

"Oh come on Bree, please?" Chloe pleaded.

"No, I'm not doing it."

"Fine, be a jerk," Chloe said as she walked off. Aubrey never really liked helping her with that kind of thing.

She walked off to her own class, grumbling to herself about how Aubrey wouldn't help her. Stacie had the first class with Chloe, so they met up just outside their classroom. They rarely ever went in until the bell was ringing.

"Hey, Chlo," Stacie smiled, "How're you?"

Chloe pouted, "Your girlfriend is being mean."

"Let me guess. You saw the new girl and wanted Bree to talk to her for you?" the tall brunette smirked.

"Well yeah, but that's not why she's mean," she crossed her arms, "She said that I probably don't have a chance with her and that I hope that just about every girl is gay or bi."

"That is kind of rude, but you know how she gets," Stacie sighed, "But you do need to try to talk to her yourself if you want to try to see if she is."

"I know, but Aubrey has a class with her and I don't know if I even have a class with her," Chloe pouted again.

"Oh, you do. Trust me," Stacie smiled.

The ginger tilted her head, "How do you know?"

"It's a secret," the brunette winked as she walked in the classroom.

"No, come on. You gotta tell me," Chloe followed her.

"You'll figure it out later, Chlo."

"Stacie, you are not being fair at all right now."

"Yeah, whatever," she grinned.

Chloe just crossed her arms and tried to look angry, "You and Bree are teaming up on me and it's not fair."

"Life's not fair," Stacie said as the teacher walked into the room. It wasn't long until the bell rang and class started.

Chloe went to every class eagerly, wondering if the next one was going to be the one with the mysterious girl. With every passing class that the girl wasn't in with her, she was beginning to believe Stacie was just kidding when she said she knew that the girl had a class with the redhead.

She walked into the Orchestra room with a sigh, thinking about how she would give Stacie an earful for lying when she saw her. She stopped in her tracks, staring at the girl. The mere sight of her took Chloe's breath away. It wasn't really like this for her. Sure, she saw a girl and thought she was cute on occasion, but nothing like this. It was literally the second time that Chloe had ever seen her and she took her breath away.

Someone behind her sighed, "Hey, can you get a move on, Chloe?"

"S-sorry," Chloe apologized before walking towards her seat. That's when she realized the girl was sitting right next to her. They both played the violin. They had something in common! The ginger tried to keep calm and sat down without saying a word to her. The girl didn't even look at her.

It seemed as quickly as class started, it ended and the girl talked to the director and was out the door before Chloe could even process it. She sighed, packed up her violin, and walked out to her mom's car.

"Hi honey, how was school?" her mom asked.

"It was okay. There's a new girl at school," the violinist smiled.

"Oh really? Is she cute?" Debbie, her mom, grinned as she started to drive.

Chloe blushed, looking out the window so her mom couldn't see, "Yeah, I guess so. Why do you ask that every time I mention a girl?"

"Cause I know you and I know you think just about every girl is cute and it's fun to bug you," she replied.

"Oh no, not you too," Chloe groaned.

"What?"

"Oh, it's just basically the same thing that Bree and Stacie said."

"I see. Well, we know you better than anyone."

"Yeah, I guess you guys do," Chloe looked out the window and started to space out, thinking about the girl's eyes.

"So what's her name?" her mom asked after a while of silence.

"What?"

"Her name. What is it?"

Chloe sat in silence for a moment, staring at herself in the mirror on the side of the car, "I don't know."

"You don't know? You mean you didn't talk to her or anything?"

"No, she didn't even look at me," Chloe crossed her arms, "Honestly, it was kind of rude."

"Well, why didn't you try to say something?" Debbie asked.

"I don't know, Mom. She just looked upset and stuff so I didn't want to bother her, I guess."

"You totally have it bad for her already, don't you?" her mom teased.

The redhead frowned and turned away, trying to hide a small blush creeping onto her cheeks, "No, Mom. Just because I think someone is cute it doesn't mean I'm in love with them."

"You're right. I'm sorry. So, what does she look like?"

"Why do you keep asking all these questions?"

"Why don't you want to answer them?"

"Because you ask too many of them and it gets annoying."

"Well, just answer that last one and I'll quit asking them."

Chloe sighed, "Fine. She's short, brunette, and has blue eyes."

Her mom rolled her eyes, "You have to do better than that. I know you think this girl is really cute and I know that you have more than she's short and has blue eyes."

"I said she was brunette too," Chloe said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Debbie laughed.

"She's just really pretty. Her eyes are darker than mine. It's like a, I don't know, a steel blue. Is that even a color? It's basically like the ocean. Her eyes are really pretty. When she was walking down the hallway she locked eyes with me and we both kinda looked at each other until this guy ran into her."

Her mom seemed impressed with her daughter's description and decided to stop teasing her, "Well, she sounds very pretty. You should talk to her."

It wasn't long until she finally did talk to the girl and learned her name was Beca. She was absolutely mesmerized. They grew close over the next couple of months, and now it was Chloe's birthday and her mother accidentally outed her.

"But Beca, I like you..." Chloe looked up at the brunette with tears in her eyes. When Beca only stared at her, she started to panic, _'Shit...I should not have said that,'_ she thought.

"Well, that took guts," Beca cleared her throat.

The ginger was confused, "W-what?"

"I said that took guts. To say that, I mean," Beca replied, "I know it's hard to do something like that."

"So, you're not mad? You're not totally freaking out right now," Chloe began to wipe the tears away.

"No, I'm not freaking out. Why would I?" the violinist asked.

Chloe sighed, "I don't know. It just happens to me, I guess. Every time I tell a girl I like her, she freaks out and never talks to me again."

"Well, first of all, Chloe, you're my best friend. I'm not going to do that to you," Beca smiled, sitting down by her friend, "Secondly, it was really brave for you to do that. It's brave every time you do. You never know how someone is going to react to that."

"I don't know how you're reacting exactly," the redhead said.

Beca sighed this time, "Well, Chlo. It's a lot for me to take in, yeah, but it doesn't make anything weird for me. I think right now I need to wait and think about this before I make any decisions on anything, especially since I literally just got out of an almost two-year relationship."

"Wow, I had no idea it was that long. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I guess he didn't really love me all that much if he could cheat on me, huh?"

"No, and it makes me mad," Chloe said, clenching her fists.

Beca smiled again, placing her hand on the ginger's back, "It's okay. He was stupid anyway."

Chloe frowned, "That doesn't mean I'm not mad."

"Come on, Chloe. You should smile. It's pretty," Beca grinned, using the same words that Chloe used on her earlier.

The redhead couldn't help but smile, "That's not fair."

"And it was when you said it to me?"

"Well, yeah. Only 'cause I said it."

Beca laughed and rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, Beale."

"Just think about it?" Chloe asked.

"What?" the brunette looked at her a little confused.

"About what I said. You know, about me liking you and stuff," Chloe scratched the back of her neck, her face turning about the same shade as her hair.

The smaller girl smiled, "Of course, I will."


End file.
